Ezra 4-5: Spiritual Warfare

"And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.'" Ezra 5:11

This morning we turn to two chapters of Ezra to discuss this great biblical topic of spiritual warfare. In Ezra 1-3, we found that everything was going great for the people of God. Cyrus had enabled them to return to their land, build the temple, and worship God. But Cyrus is dead, and there is a new emperor in town, and he doesn't know what's up. Because of this, the people of God are quickly confronted with this thing called opposition. Things were easy, but the furnace is about to get hot. Yet through it all, we find that the people of God are encouraged to do the mission of God by the word of God, despite opposition. Let's look at what I mean here.

At the beginning of Ezra 4, we find a frightening new people group enter our story: "the adversaries of Judah." We don't know exactly who these people were, but we do know that they did not like the Israelites. Thus, they attempt to spoil their plans of rebuilding their temple and their city. First, they offer to give them a hand in building the temple (Ezra 4:1-3). However, Zerubbabel knew this was a scheme to infiltrate their work, so he refused by literally saying, "You have nothing to do with us in building the house to our God" (4:3).

Next, the enemies of Judah "bribe counselors" against them, making them afraid to build (4:5). This is all while Cyrus was still king. Yet soon enough, Cyrus dies, and Ahasuerus starts to reign, followed by Artaxerxes. And it is under Artexerxes's reign that things really get complicated. The enemies of Judah write a letter to the king bearing false testimony against the Jews, saying that if they rebuild their land, they will not pay taxes or give homage to the king (4:7-16). The king reads the letter, and by force stops the Israelites from rebuilding the temple (4:17-24).

At this point, the building of the city of God was paused. Yet we find even here that God never forsakes his people. Years later, under the reign of Darius, Haggai and Zechariah, two prophets of the Lord, encourage the Israelites to begin building again (5:1). Zerubbabel and Jeshua take up the call and start rebuilding the city, yet the opposition continues. Tettenai, the governor of the enemies of the Jews, comes to them, asking them by what decree they rebuild their city. Yet rather than backing down, this time Zerubbabel gives him an answer, telling them that Cyrus the king decreed that they could rebuild the city. Thus, Tettenai writes a letter to King Darius, asking him to search the records to see if this is true (5:3-17).

It's a great and dramatic story, is it not? Yet, let us observe a few things. First, those who aspire to do the work of God will face opposition. I've heard it said before that if you're not facing opposition (persecution) in your Christian walk, you're doing something wrong. Second, the devil is crafty. Look at all the schemes the enemies of Judah attempted to get them to stop rebuilding their city. The devil was behind all of these tactics, and he knew what he was doing. Likewise, in our own lives, we must realize the "schemes" of the devil. He is crafty, and he will do whatever he can to destroy the work of God.

Yet the biggest thing I want to draw from these two chapters is this: the people of God are encouraged to do the work of God by the word of God. Notice here that it wasn't a divine miracle that got Zerubbabel and Jeshua going on the temple again. Nor was it long meditation, going to enough church services, or an energy drink. Rather, it was the word of the Lord delivered by the prophets. After a long season of fear, the words of Zechariah and Haggai (which we have written down in the Bible for us to read, by the way), are what encouraged them to keep going (Ezra 5:1).

What I want to encourage you with today is this: what does your daily intake of God's Word look like? If you are feeling discouraged in your pursuit of God, if you are finding yourself struggling to persevere in the work of the Lord, may I encourage you that the reason for this might be because you haven't actually been hearing from the Lord? Let us not be like the soldier who is afraid of his task all because he is not listening to the clear instruction from his commander. Rather, let us open up God's Word, hear from it, and thus be motivated to persevere despite opposition. God has called us to a task, and we cannot fulfill that task unless properly motivated and instructed by God's Word.

So, let me summarize: in this world, you will face opposition. I'm pretty sure Jesus said that somewhere. Yet be encouraged: Jesus endured the greatest opposition by men so that you would have an example of how to deal with the oppositions that face you. If you don't know what I mean here, go read 1 Peter 2-3. The lamb of God "opened not his mouth" when confronted with evil men who ultimately murdered him. He did not give up, he did not back down, he merely continued in the work of the Lord. Let me encourage you to do the same today. Amen!